Delays added to Lackland problems

Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., chairman House Armed Services Committee, is responsible for a significant delay in Congress exercising its oversight authority in response to the situation at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

“While I applaud the Air Force for pursuing in-depth investigations to find answers to these questions, I am particularly disturbed to learn that there was significant delay reporting the allegations to the proper authorities when they first came to light,” committee Chairman Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said in a statement. “Congress shares the responsibility for preventing sexual assault within the military and assuring victims that their cases will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

This is a significant turnaround from McKeon's position in September, after he spent all of three hours visiting Lackland, that there was no need for congressional hearings. “Just because a few people go beyond the bounds of propriety and misuse the authority they've been given — a very important authority — that does not mean they can't clean up the problem,” he told The Hill. “They're working on it and I'm convinced going to do a great job of it.”

Now McKeon seems to think the Air Force didn't do such a great job after all. But if Air Force leaders were dilatory in reporting allegations of sexual assault to the proper authorities, McKeon is responsible for the significant delay in Congress exercising its oversight authority in response to the situation at Lackland.

The significance of the problem was well known in September, when already 43 victims had been identified and 17 training instructors were under investigation or had faced disciplinary action for crimes including rape, sexual assault and improper sexual relations. Yet McKeon didn't consent to hold public hearings on the scandal until this month, when the number of known victims had climbed to 56 and 30 instructors had fallen under investigation.

Yes, Congress does share in the responsibility of addressing the problem of sexual assault in the military — not only at Lackland, and not only in the Air Force. It would be preferable for congressional leaders to assume that responsibility sooner rather than later.